The "Religious Left", perhaps the best course.

Determinism, rather than justice or the idea that good always wins, is the philosophical proposition that every event, including human cognition and behaviour, decision and action, is causally determined by an unbroken chain of prior occurrences. I compare this approach to life to the comments of Nibley, a favorite author, who wrote that "it did not matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us". He added that "it's not what happens to you that matters. It's not what becomes of you, it's what you become that 's important."

*

Nibley suggests that we can change who we are by how we react. He is suggesting that we are in a process of "becoming something". The "Determinist" would conclude that even in the act of trying to "respond our responses" that our choices really would just be outcomes.

*

It seems to me that "life" is bigger than the individual. What I am saying is that even though all actions get down to cause and effect that it just is not possible to see all that plays into the potential causes and effects of actions and decisions. Nibley is correct. Life will expect things from us that we won't see coming.

*

I would suggest that to allow "life" to help us "become something" requires the use, not just of best decisions that we can make, but the best "motives". Motive then would be something whose impact would transcends the determinist's view of all results being beyond the simple laws of cause and effect. Of course the rebuttal to this would be that a motive would follow a process that would predict the result but I think that the way to get free from this is to look outward to the "object of the motive". The highest motive I am suggesting is "selfless". Selfless could me a lot but it would include the "pure love of Christ", virtue, and choices outside of personal advantage. If such a thing is possible as choices that are selfless then that would be enough to break free of a determinist view of outcome since the effect of the choices would rely on an outcome not known.

*

Those that want to help or act, because they think it is the right thing to do, by their very nature would be more liberal and it "ought to follow" that they ought to be more religious. Acting only in ones self interest by its nature would be more conservative and it would follow that these motives then would be less religious since they would be lessconcerned about others rather than self.

What does today "expect of us"?

Memorial Day
May 26, 2008


Vicktor Frankl said that:

“It did not really matter

what we expected from life,
but rather what life

expected from us.”

He raised this question another way by asking:

"if it was possible to gain more by bearing life’s
burdens well than by living the good life. "

Hugh Nibley wrote of, what seems to me, to be a similar type of thought that he had one time while in a foxhole during wartime. He said he was impressed with the thought that he needed to be “happy” in that circumstance. His point was that it is not what happens to you or even what becomes of you that matters it is what you become that’s important.

*
Last year on this day I wrote some thoughts about my father and his dedication to his family and the fact that this day was one that he verified his dedication in remembering and honoring the gravesides. The day served well to show what he felt life expected of him and in responding to that it defined what life allowed him to become.

*

*

PS: Yesterdays comments about Einstein can be found in a "review format" on Amazon. Either go to the Amazon link on the right side half way done and click "My Amazon Reviews" or click this link:

*

http://www.amazon.com/gp/cdp/member-reviews/A3RX9706A2ZP8F?tag2=bjsran-20

Balance, Bikes, Nemo's Corollary

*

*

A really good book that I just finished about Einstein,


In 1930 Einstein wrote a letter to his son and said .......

*

*

*

*

*

“Life is like riding a bicycle.

To keep your balance you must keep moving”. *****

This book presents Einstein’s scientific achievements, politics, faith, reputation and world influence woven into the events of his time and his own personal life.

Even though his science changed it was really a simple set of formulas that seemed to define his outlook yet his own world views we not as constant and did change as a result of the times he lived through.

Two World Wars, the impact of anti-Semitism, a personal love of non conformity seem to be odd ingredients for a philosophy which embraced the need for a unification of world governments but all came together in the book to help understand this complex individual.

The book presents his science with a lot of details and builds on it as his live takes place much in the same it way it builds on his outlook on his Jewish faith, his relationship with his family, and the impact of at first not being accepted and then becoming a world wide superstar.
I found the details of his popularity and the influence he had throughout most of his life to be one of the most interesting things about the book.

*

*

*****KJ's Nemo Corollary: "Just keep on swimming".

*

*

(additional quote for the day, "Not choice, but habit rules the unreflecting herd." ~William Wordsworth)

new distance run

Running along the Jordan River in Utah. 90 degrees plus, "that day". Nice visit, nice trip.

Skies always blue

I really like to see birds in this formation and to think about how they help each other and how the lead is something they share.

*

*

God hath not promised, Skies always blue.
Flowers-strewn pathways, All our lives through;
God hath not promised, Sun without rain,
Joy without sorrow, Peace without pain
But god hath promised, Strength for the day,
Rest for the labor, Light for the way
Grace for the trials, Help from above

Unfailing sympathy, Undying love

Starting again at my beginnings

The air was a little crisp still. A light snow dusting on the mountains to the east gave contrast to the blue sky and the dark brown mountain. My run had began with me running toward the mountains for almost 3 miles at which point I was as close, both in distance and spirit, to the mountain as I was going to be this day. The light was different from the near the top of the lower peaks, and then different again over the top of the highest mountain peaks. The white light between the blue and the valley below seemed to make the view almost unreal. The blue sky above framed the entire picture. It seemed as though I could smell the ground and the sky and all feeling left me and the in some ways nothing else existed. The most encompassing "high". Self was gone. No footprints. Nothing but light. Nothing in me but everything to hold on too.

*

It was 8 miles today. 8 miles of distance run. It was so much more than a "unforgiving minute" and for it "the Earth was mine and everything in it"....................

*

If

If you can keep your head when all about you

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you

But make allowance for their doubting too,

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,

Or being hated, don't give way to hating,

And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream--and not make dreams your master,

If you can think--and not make thoughts your aim;

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster

And treat those two impostors just the same;

If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken

Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,

Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,

And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools
If you can make one heap of all your winnings

And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings

And never breath a word about your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew

To serve your turn long after they are gone,

And so hold on when there is nothing in you

Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,

Or walk with kings--nor lose the common touch,

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;

If all men count with you, but none too much,

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,

Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,

And--which is more--you'll be a Man, my son!
--Rudyard Kipling

no rush for this bird

The week brings opportunities "to fill the week". Sooner or later the right opportunity will be found.

*Sooner is good................................

"Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished."

~ Lau tzu

"If the human brain were so simple that we could understand it,

we would be so simple that we couldn't."

~ Emerson M. Pugh

we learn a great deal from our Mothers

I was impressed with a interview with a political candidate that I saw last week. He was asked for some thoughts about his Mother and Mothers day and he of course talked about his own Mother and how much influence she had on him. He gave his Mom the credit for his success and it probably surprised many who listed to him talk. Then he paused and said that the most important Mother in his life at this time was his wife, who was the Mother of his daughters. Both Moms needed remembering and it was to his credit that he did it so well. It seems like no matter where you look if you want feedback from a successful man he will tell you how much his mother helped him. (Some have the added blessing of being married to another most important Mother in their life)

*

My Mom was a fighter in many ways. She had dreams and wanted to be more than she was. She worked hard and she took pride in what she accomplished but a big part of her was never satisfied. Her loyalties were unquestioned and she loved her husband and loved all those that he loved.

*

Then as I think about this Mothers day I also must say that the most important Mother in my life is my wife and friend who is the Mother of those that matter so much. Today will bring conversations with all those that would not be here or would not be who they are without her influence. One will prepare dinner and may spend the rest of the day laughing at the card he bought. One will spend time being a Mom herself and the other will spend his day in the service of others but will be able to call, because it is Mothers Day.

*

Yesterday a moment came when someone asked me my full name. I told them my full name, including my middle name, which is of course my Fathers first name. When I told them this I felt pride that I shared my Fathers name. I am and have always been proud to carry his name. At that moment I felt a closeness with not just him but with the Mother who taught me to be proud of him.

holes in his shoes and no back up disk, gosh

I was listening to a song by Dolly Parton, “Me and Bobbie McGee”. She mentioned that she would trade all of her tomorrow’s for one of yesterday? Interesting thought. Which yesterday would be worth the trade? For the writer of the song the worth was in the loss of someone thought perhaps gone forever. What would yesterday hold that would be gone for ever? Mistakes, problems, challenges could be gone forever if they were learned from. On the other hand all that was good about yesterday hold the promise of only being better tomorrow. Not a good trade, tomorrow for yesterday.

*

"Be master of mind rather
than mastered by mind."
~ Zen Proverb

*

I just thought the dove was bringing a good message about tomorrow, hopefully.

"help sought", but for what reason? No more papercuts please, or instead, just heal this one?

The question of "what is inside each of us, what is it that drives us and makes us get up out of the chair and push", is well worth pondering. Does help come in answer to what is inside of us reacting to what has happened, or does help come in the form of shaping what happens????????
*

The difficulty of literature is not to write, but to write what you mean."

-Robert Louis Stevenson

*

“In the depths of winter I finally learned there was in me an invincible summer."

-Albert Camus

*

What lies behind us, and what lies before us, are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. Ralph Waldo Emerson

just 6 words

"six word memoir for my life"

This idea for a post, "six word memoir for my life" came from my favorite blog and I will have to tell you she is a talented writer and her creativity is "right on". So the challenge is taken and I will indeed try to find the "six words". In some ways however I suspect that the words would vary a lot over the years for myself, unlike the "right on" ones I was so impressed with. For example I am told that a personality test I took a few years back showed me as an extrovert and then recently it showed me as an introvert? Well that can't be too accurate if I am typing this onto a blog that isn't even password protected and beyond the 3 or 4 regulars and a couple of others that do check the blog the reality is that it could be found by anyone. But, I will say I don't have much interest in anyone reading this other than the special group that does or my most regular reader............me.

"The book won't give it justice"

*

"Better than all the Greek Tragedies"

*

"Is that Rice Pudding for me?"*

*

"I love my sweet innocent bystander"

*

"She helped me get through it"

*

"I should have been a teacher"

*

I read on another favorite family blog a description of the some of my recent challenges compared to a bee sting incident where Alex declared "death I welcome thee". It indeed was a good lesson on learning and moving forward. The question of whether the "sting" of is indeed lessened by help unexpected is something that made me thing of these verses..............

*

I lay down the shield and quit the sword
For now thy work is done
And swiftly towards the glowing east
Ascends the rising sun
Angelic guards wait with the day
Thy crown of light to bring
O grave, where is thy victory?
O death where is thy sting?
*
Bravely hast thou upheld the shield,
The path of conquest trod,
And followed in the battle-field
The banner of thy God.
The hour of rest approaches nigh,
And waiting heralds sing,
O grave, where is thy victory?
O death, where is thy sting?
*
1 Corinthians 15:55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

Once upon a time in a city far away, I went to lunch one day. All the folks were caught up in their "Greekness". but those we met that day told a "happy little tail" of their "rice pudding creation" and their intent was to share it that day for lunch with all those who were Greek , or thought they should be Greek. Not being Greek or caught up in the Greekness, left me that day, invisible and without rice pudding. Sometimes one lunch reveals it all. Perhaps as I ponder putting down the "shield and sword" I can look back and know that I indeed followed the path of conquest but only left the battle field for a few lunch hours of rest. Hired Guns do rest from their missions and still eat, you see. O death, where is thy sting?

To see more clearly.............. is the challenge

I read a book about the subject of writing a few years ago. The book suggested that every day that you write something and to do it each day as a matter of routine. Get up each day. Get to the place your write and just write for 30 minutes and put down whatever comes to mind. This approach is suppose to make you a better writer and is also suppose to enable you to build on what you have said and by doing so know what you want to say more clearly. The idea is that you can shape your own direction as you go by starting with whatever is on your mind or in the direction of your particular vision at that moment. Well I haven't written on this blog in a few days and that is sort of unusual. I have written some notes in one of several journals that I often write in. On the other hand a lot has happened. Our house may be selling soon. I may be finding a job soon. Then again it is hard to say. As one looks around and then attempts to determine what is happening it is often the case that we don't see clearly what is happening. I was very impressed with a thought presented about Jesus Christ by an author I really respect. He tells of when Jesus was on the Cross that below were soldiers rolling dice for his cloths.

The greatest of all human events was taking place

just above their heads.

All they had to do was look up. Instead they looked at where their self interest took them. They could not see what was happening all around them. Each day may be a lot like that event. Things happen. Things happen that are not pleasant or that really do not represent what is really happening if we were to look up.

*

There is a spiritual meaning of all human acts and earthly events.

John A. Widtsoe

.